Faster
by GirlInterruptedCorrupted
Summary: (pietro x oc, read intro notes , au fic,) Catherine Barton has come home from college to pick herself back up and figure her life out after a curveball is thrown into her plans. But then she meets a certain speeding Sokovian and even more curveballs are introduced into her life. Will everything work out for the two?
1. Chapter 1

**Before I even get into this story, a few things I feel I have to explain.. I am a huge BlackHawk shipper, so in this story, that weird and out of nowhere 'family out of nowhere' plot twist did not occur. Instead, Laura is Clint's sister and the kids other than Catherine, my oc, belong to Laura. Catherine is my original character and she's the daughter of Clint Barton and a previously deceased OC named Marion. Clint and Natasha married secretly when Catherine was 3, and Natasha became the adoptive mother.** **This happens betwee and CACW. So it's most likely going to be an AU fanfiction. Pietro Maximoff is still alive, damn it. They've been resurrecting him using the Cradle and TAHITI. Wanda is staying at the farmhouse and when Pietro recovers, he will too.** **And yes, my original character has a kind of angsty set of circumstances. There will be action here and there but this will most likely wind up being fluffy / sexy and a true romantic story. Because I fucking love Pietro Maximoff. I REALLY HOPE YOU GUYS LIKE THIS. I HESITATED SO MUCH BEFORE UPLOADING. I'M WORKING ON MORE NOW BUT.. SHOULD I KEEP IT GOING?**

* * *

ONE

She parked her car in the driveway of her father's farmhouse and got out, stretching. It had been a long drive and right now, all Catherine wanted to do was get inside and pass out in her old bedroom and preferably sleep the next few hours away. Looking around the driveway, there wasn't a sign of her father's SUV or her stepmom's vehicle either, so she guessed they were at the SHIELD compound.

"They didn't mention a mission last night, weird." Catherine muttered as she messed with the keychain in her hand, finding the key to the Barton – Romanoff farmhouse. She'd made it halfway up the porch steps when the door opened and a girl with long and flowing red hair stood leaned in it, eying her critically.

"Who are you?"

"Catherine, who are you? And how the hell are you even in my parents house?" Catherine asked the girl, hand going to her long brown hair as she stared her down intently.

"I am here because I am staying here. I did not know that Agent Barton and Agent Romanoff had a daughter." Wanda watched the girl carefully, using what she'd learned at SHIELD about harnessing her abilities to try and get a read for the girl. All she could sense was that the girl was both tired mentally and physically. That she'd been through a lot in a short period of time. You could look at her and tell, really.

"Yeah, well, safety reasons. Dad's a stickler for safety. They don't want me in danger. I didn't know they were letting people stay here, either, so you're not the only one who is not in the loop right now." Catherine explained. The conversation halted and a few seconds later, Catherine said quietly, "Sorry, I just… My stepmom probably mentioned you staying when I skyped her, I've just had a lot on my mind lately.. Can I come in?"

Warily, Wanda stepped to the side and let the brunette step into the den of the farmouse and Catherine shed her shoes and jacket, hanging up the jacket, lining the shoes up in the little shelf by the door just like always. She took a long deep breath and then said aloud, "It feels so good to just be home again."

Wanda gave a small and wary smile and then she saw a picture on the mantle which confirmed Catherine as actually being who she said she was. Wanda asked quietly, "Why were you away?"

"College.. And I got engaged but that's… It's over now, actually, and I'm extremely glad. So I decided to come home, kind of clear my head and figure out what I was going to do with my life now… How long have you been staying here?"

"It's Wanda.. And I have been staying here for about 2 months now.. While they straighten out this mess with my visa." she spoke with a thick accent, a foreign one that Catherine noticed sounded like Natasha's did occasionally when she was really mad and forgot English for about five seconds, lapsing back into Russian. Wanda straightened a throw pillow on the couch and then said aloud, "My brother.. He was badly injured and they are trying to heal him. Until then, I am here.. And training. I will be joining SHIELD."

"Ahh.. So you're one of the team then… And your brother… he's Pietro, right? I think I remember my dad mentioning you guys being here now.. I hope Pietro is okay and that he heals." Catherine said quietly, sinking down onto the couch, resting her head on her hands for a moment.

Wanda sat down and asked quietly, "You act as if something is wrong?"

"Everything, Wanda.. Everything is wrong.. And when I talk to my dad and my stepmom, they're going to be so disappointed in me and my stupidity… I can't believe I… I fell for the lies Baron gave me. And then things got serious and he vanished. Story of my life.." Catherine ventured, eying the red head as she took a few deep breaths. "I had my whole life planned out and now it's just.. All messed up. All because of my own stupidity."

" I'm sure it is not so bad." Wanda attempted to comfort the girl, and Catherine took a few deep breaths as she laughed quietly; almost in a bitter way and then said "Oh trust me.. It's pretty bad.. But it's not the end of the world.. I just need to figure out what I'm going to do now.. And how I'm gonna do a lot of it alone."

"A lot of what?"

"My fiance, the one I told you about? He walked out on me because I was pregnant and I wouldn't give up the baby or something. Said he's 'not ready for all this bullshit'. I lost my scholarship, therefore I lost the money to keep going to that college… But I can go to the junior college here and live at home… If my dad and Natasha don't completely disown me." Catherine muttered quietly.

"So you are.."

"Mhmm… I'm a month pregnant right now. As soon as the college I was going to found out, my scholarship vanished. And the internship I was going for."

"But that is not fair."

"Sometimes life isn't. This is pretty much the story of mine, Wanda." Catherine looked at her hands and sighed, standing as she said quietly, "Should probably call my dad and see where he is, get this shit show on the road already… You, umm.. You might want to find somewhere and hide out a few hours. Because my dad is probably going to be furious and we will probably argue."

"I will go to visit my brother. I do anyway, I sit with him a few hours a day. I think maybe you are worried about nothing."

"I hope so but I'm pretty sure I'm not." Catherine said quietly, biting down on her lower lip. This was probably the worst thing she'd done in her life. Before all this, she hadn't even really gotten a detention before. She'd been a relatively boring and safe girl.

She'd thought with her heart one time; look where it was landing her now.

"I think it will be alright." Wanda put her hand to Catherine's shoulder warily, and Catherine felt a momentary wave of calm. "I've got to be going now. Maybe we can talk to each other later." Wanda offered as she stood and made her way out of the house.

Catherine sat there, trying to figure out how the hell to tell her parents what she knew she'd have to tell them when they arrived home from wherever it was that they'd gone off to.


	2. Chapter 1 continued

OMG SO HAPPY. I have 2 reviews already and quite a few favorites and follows! I took a concept that I've seen floating around on some AU prompts lists and kind of made it my own. It'll become more clear what I'm doing with it further along in the story but it's hinted at here, sort of.. This chapter features family moments, mentions of WitchVision and Pietro waking up, yay!

I love you guys so much for supporting my shitty writing! you're the best.

* * *

CONTINUED

ONE HOUR LATER

"What the hell do you mean this is no big deal, Catherine? I'm going to kill that little shithead." Clint Barton was furious and all Catherine could do was sigh and shake her head, speak up to tell her father, "No, Daddy, he's not worth it. And if he couldn't stick by me in this, I didn't need him, okay? I'm going to be fine. I can do this."

"You have our help." Laura and Natasha chimed in at almost the same time as Natasha looked at her stepdaughter in concern and shook her head, a little disappointed, but at the same time, hurting because she could look at Catherine and see she was hurting like hell. "We taught you better than sleeping with anyone before you know you'll be with them for good, that they're it for you.. But.. Everybody makes mistakes. I still wish you'd never met that little prick."

"Me too, mom."

Natasha put her arm around her stepdaughter and Catherine took a few deep breaths, looked at her father. Clint sighed quietly and pulled Catherine into a hug as he said calmly, "It was not a smart thing, princess. I know you two were talking marriage but that was just talk. I cannot believe you did this. Everything you planned, princess.."

"I know, daddy. Believe me, I know.. I just thought that we were going to be together for good.. I thought that he really loved me and we'd get married and I thought it'd be okay..."

"I hope you know otherwise now, princess."

Catherine sighed. The two of them being disappointed with her was more than enough punishment for her stupidity, but they didn't hate her, they hadn't thrown her out. Her worst fear hadn't come to pass and she was feeling a little better about having to tell them.

"What are we doing about the baby?" Natasha asked, curious.

"I'm keeping him or her… I want this.. I just want no part of their father, ever again. I want no part of any man ever again now.. I mean this is only the fourth time I've been tricked by words and promises and then hurt because of it. I just need to leave love alone." Catherine admitted quietly, shaking her head.

"You have your family. That's enough. Good girl."

"Can I still go and kill this little fucking shit?" Clint asked, wanting nothing more than to get hold of the guy responsible for getting Catherine into this mess and leading her own, causing her to throw away her future for nothing. Catherine sighed and said quietly, "Dad. It takes two to tango."

"Shhhh. I am not thinking about my little girl having… Doing that."

"It happened, okay? And I'm an adult.. A stupid one, but an adult."

"You are not stupid. It just wasn't a smart idea, what you did." Clint said quietly, eying his daughter. Catherine shook her head and said quietly and calmly, "It was a very stupid thing I did. So yes, daddy, I am a huge idiot. But I won't be anymore. I'm done. I'm gonna focus on school and my baby and live my life."

"Good. It's better than me wanting to kill every single little asshole you bring home to me, princess."

"Clint.. You are not supposed to encourage her to give up." Laura started but Catherine shrugged and said quietly, "I just… I wanna go up to sleep. I'm tired." as she hugged her parents and her aunt and made her way up the stairs, the entire conversation replaying in her mind with each step she made to her bedroom. ..

CONTINUED

( AT THE AVENGERS COMPOUND)

It took longer for Wanda to be permitted back to see her brother, and while she waited, she thought about her conversation with Catherine Barton about the situation that the other girl was currently stuck in.

She was bought out of her own thoughts when Maria walked out, told her that she could go back and see her brother and right away, the look on Maria's face made the quiet Sokovian female smile a little.. had he finally woken up?

She could only hope.

She made her way into the room where Pietro had spent nearly 2 months now, slowly healing and rebuilding and repairing himself with the help of machinery and the best team of doctors and round the clock nurses that the government could afford. She found him sitting up, arguing with one of the nurses about why he couldn't get out of bed and dart around everywhere and quickly, Wanda began to scold him as the tears wet her face.

Pietro hugged his sister as he thought about the strange dream he'd just had. And when he hugged his sister and inadvertently, she showed him the thoughts, he sucked in a breath and started to explain to her in Sokovian that he'd seen the girl before, while he was out in the medically induced coma. Wanda raised a brow, disbelieving what he said at first until he stubbornly took hold of her hand, guiding it to his temples, letting it linger there and let her see into his thoughts.

Wanda gasped and then asked, "But how?"

"I do not know, sister. I just know that I have seen her before, in my thoughts. Maybe it was when Agent Barton called her before the incident in Sokovia." Pietro explained it away, that had to have been in, it was the only logical answer.

"Agent Hill said that they will let me out at the end of the week." Pietro told his sister with a smirk as Wanda hugged him and then explained their living situation currently to Pietro, adding at the end, "This girl.. She has returned home and is living there as well."

Pietro gave a nod but pushed it out of his head, focusing instead on reconnecting with his twin because he'd missed her more than he ever thought a person could be missed. They talked for a few hours and Wanda was leaving when he asked, "Are we going to stay in America?"

"There's no Sokovia to go back to." Wanda told her brother quietly, sighing sadly as she shook her head. Pietro nodded, a solemn look crossing his face. "It is for the best. We can have a new start here."

"We can." Wanda blushed lightly as a sudden thought of Vision came to mind.

"I saw that, sister."

"You saw nothing, Pietro."

"Sure I didn't. Go now, be careful going back to the Barton's house." Pietro shooed his sister out the door after another hug, collapsing back into his pillows as he tried to puzzle out how he'd accurately pictured a girl in his mind that he'd probably never seen before. He gave up when he spent more than an hour on it, ultimately concluding that he'd probably seen a picture of the girl and somehow, his mind concocted this entire alternate reality while he'd been out in the coma.. Because nothing else made any sort of actual sense.

He would be free of this damned hospital bed by the weeks end. He was already counting down the days...


	3. Chapter 2

TWO

THE DAY OF PIETRO'S HOSPITAL RELEASE

He'd been napping on the couch downstairs in the den when the front door to the farmhouse slammed shut and he heard a soft and almost musical voice calling out, first in Russian and then in normal English. The petite and curvy female with bangs that framed a full face and drew attention to bright green eyes came into view a few minutes later and he just stared at the living and breathing embodiment of the scenarios his comatose mind cooked up while he'd been out.

It was one thing to say that she'd been in his thoughts while he'd been out, but to see her now, standing in the double doors of the farmhouse as she shed her shoes and slid off a powder purple cardigan and put it on the standing hanger next to the door, well, he couldn't put it off to his imagination taking the fact that he'd seen her or something before his medically induced coma and spun that into all the things he'd imagined while he was out.

"Hi.. It's Pietro, right?" Catherine managed to ask as he stood to go and shut the doors behind her and they found themselves body to body in front of the doors, her looking way up at him. "Yes.. I.. Have we met before, printsessa?"

"I don't think so." Catherine tried to figure out why but for some strange reason, when she said they hadn't, she got this feeling that yes, she had seen him somewhere before.. More than one time. It was strange, she felt this… sense of deja vu towards him.

"You look very familiar."

"So do you, Pietro, but… I'm telling the truth, I've never seen you anywhere but in the picture my dad had of you.." Catherine bit her lower lip, puzzling out why everything about Pietro Maximoff was familiar… He almost looked…

If you took away the platinum blonde and gave him dark brown hair…

No, it wouldn't be the foreign guy she went out with while she and Baron were broken up a few months ago, maybe a month before the Sokovian disaster that almost killed her father and the platinum blond male towering over her, eyes locked on her right now.

He'd vanished.

Fingers wound through long dark hair as she tried to puzzle out the weirdness of the situation and pull herself together, get it through her head that no, her one true moment of weakness was not standing in her living room, totally oblivious to who she was and apparently, not using the name she knew him by..

"It's probably nothing." she muttered to herself aloud as she shook her head and then moved to step past Pietro, their bodies brushing as she did, her mind filling with the one night in the guy whose doppleganger he could easily be's arms. She looked up at him, he stepped away a little, the look on his face almost as confused as her own and he shook his head as he mumbled to himself in Sokovian, awkwardly stepping back.

"Yeah." Catherine muttered, biting her lower lip and not soon after, fleeing the tension between them, going upstairs to the sanctuary that was her bedroom and at least a weeks worth of course work in Anatomy. The door shut behind her and for a moment, she leaned against it heavily as she let out a few long and slow and very ragged breaths.

"Not even my parents know about that whole 3 weeks of my life." she mumbled aloud to herself as she frowned at her reflection in the mirror and then added in a quieter tone, "And he left me too, so whether this baby is that guy's or Baron's.. I'm totally alone. And Pietro Maximoff is NOT the guy I've had on my mind nonstop lately since Baron walked out, wishing that he'd just show up on my doorstep one day, he can't be.. Pietro didn't even know about SHIELD until the Sokovian thing and his assignment to take them down from Hydra.. So my train of thought is totally invalid."

Downstairs, all Pietro could think to himself was that huge chunks of his memory from before the involvement with Hydra and now SHIELD were missing.. And that he'd seen her somewhere before, he just had no idea where. And it was driving the muscular blond Sokovian insane as he tried his best to figure it out for himself.

"But we never came to America before Hydra sent us to spy and to do our actual mission… Did we?" he wondered aloud to himself as he flopped back onto the couch, turning on the television set, finding something else on to watch to attempt taking his mind off of everything that happened just now, to keep him from overthinking…

Because there was no logical way that he'd ever met Catherine Barton until just now, was there?

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OMG SO HAPPY. I have 2 reviews already and quite a few favorites and follows! Okay, so plans have been scrapped slightly.. I got this killer plot idea forming in my mind and this chapter, while short, is working towards it. If you guess where this is heading, please no spoilers? If you want to ask me about it, my pms are open for that and I'll gladly discuss it. I actually want to bounce the idea off of people anyway, because I'm sitting here kind of squealing at myself. So no, this is no longer derived from an AU I found on Tumblr at like 2 am. This is now a plot of my own making, though I doubt I'm the first person ever to come up with it.

It's hinted that Pietro has mild amnesia too and portions of his memory from BEFORE the incident are missing. I have not quite decided yet whether the drugs Hydra gave Wanda and Pietro are the cause of this (maybe in a similar vein of what they did to Bucky only not as significant and as scarring) or if it's the incident and his injuries themselves that did this to him. So yes, there are lots of hints in here.

I'm going to try and upload more of the story as quickly as I can, it came to me earlier, started to come together in my mind as I sat down and wrote this just now, but.. I hope you guys don't think it's the worst and stop reading it. I'm doing my best with the characters and I'm looking into the plot angle I have in mind to see if I can even pull it off... Because in order for it to work.. Catherine has to be farther along in her pregnancy than she thought and yes, that is an option, but it can be tricky to write..


	4. Chapter 3

THREE

x.X.x

dream/memory

 _His large rough hands gripped her short and curvy frame as her back met the wall next to the door of her apartment and he said things to her, dirty things, in his native tongue. All Cat could do was moan against his lips as they slowly grazed her neck and his tongue flickered out, licking her flesh as her panties got wetter with each second that passed. Her clothes felt like they weighed a ton by now, itchy and hot against her skin and all she wanted was for the taller foreign male to peel them off or rip them away carelessly, it didn't much matter to her._

 _Everything about her fight with Baron earlier in the week was forgotten, it had been pushed to the back of her mind and even though she knew what she was doing was wrong, her parents had raised her better than she was behaving right now, well.. She wanted him with every ounce of herself. He ground her torso against the growing strain in the front of his jeans and his hands gripped her ass and thighs as he felt for the doorknob momentarily removing the hand on her thigh to turn the handle. "Are you sure, printsessa?" he asked, blue eyes gleaming with lust and staring into her own green ones as he licked his lips and tried to catch his breath._

 _He'd come to New York to bring Tony Stark down, to make him pay for the death of his parents, he was doing this for Wanda, for himself, for the childhood they got deprived of and then he'd met Cat at a Stark Industries office where she was working as a temporary secretary.. Every night for almost 3 weeks now since they'd met on accident, he'd been at her apartment on campus, they talked for hours, kissing in between talking sessions, they practically knew each others life stories… Except for the parts Pietro hadn't told her and the lies were eating the Sokovian male from the inside out. He felt warm around her, he felt his heart bursting; full of love and desire for the brunette in his arms right now.._

 _But a love couldn't work when there were poisonus lies lurking._

 _He knew tonight was going to be their last night and then he'd have to disappear, to return to Sokovia with the information he'd gathered, to come up with some kind of plan.._

" _Take me." the brunette mumbled breathlessly against his neck as her teeth sank into his skin, making a groan fall from the Sokovian's lips as he stepped them through the threshold, carried her to the bedroom she slept in, laying her down on the bed while slowly undressing her, touching her gently but roughly, leaving his mark all over her as he did so.. he wanted to remember this night for the rest of his life because even if he could never have her, he wanted to remember that once upon a time, she was his.. Even if it was only for a few weeks.._

x.X.x

end of dream / memory

Pietro sat up on the couch in the Barton farmhouse, beyond aroused and annoyed with himself about it as the dream woke him from a dead sleep, it was so real and vivid he could actually feel each thrust their bodies made together almost as it happened in his mind and now he had to catch his breath. He slid off the couch, making his way up the stairs and he was standing in the doorway of the bathroom with his arms crossed as he watched Catherine Barton brushing her teeth, her skin pale, her eyes sporting the tell tale dark circles of someone who hadn't been sleeping well lately and from the looks of it, might not have slept well in a really long time.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, eyeing the brunette in concern, chuckling when she jumped at least three inches into the air almost. Catherine turned, her eyes locking on his and she nodded, staying quiet for a few seconds, the feeling of deja vu that seemed to linger between them still very much present and almost stifling in the confines of the small and dated bathroom they stood in presently.

"Yeah, uhh.. Morning sickness. It happens when you're pregnant." Catherine answered, shaking her head, driving the thoughts still nagging at her mind back to the depths for the moment. She watched his eyes glimmer for a second, almost as if he wanted to ask something but he wasn't sure how and she gave a shrug when he asked, "You are.."

"Mhmm.. I go to the doctor tomorrow to find out officially but.. I'm thinking 6 EPTS don't lie." Catherine answered, placing the toothbrush back into the holder for it, moving to side step him, again, their bodies brushing, again, this feeling…

She reminded herself that until two and a half months ago, Pietro Maximoff hadn't even set foot in America and Pietro studied her, wondering if maybe his dream that dragged him out of a dead sleep hadn't been an actual memory..

"Sorry, I.." she started, Pietro shaking his head, moving awkwardly out of the doorway to let her step out of the small bathroom. He stared at her for a few seconds and finally, he asked the question that was burning in his mind right now, "What about the baby's father? Where is he in all of this? Wanda told me a little, but.." falling silent, wondering if he'd been too nosy and alternately, why it mattered to him.

"It's one of two guys, Pietro and one of them just vanished without a trace after we had three amazing weeks together.. The other is an asshole named Baron who freaked and ran when faced with the prospect of having a baby. He wasn't 'cut out for this parenting shit' or something… At least that's what he told me. I mean it's been almost 4 months since I've seen the first guy I mentioned.. Forget it." Catherine turned and walked down the hall and into her bedroom, falling back across the bed and Pietro stood there, thinking about the dreams he kept having lately, and everything he'd thought about while he was in the medically induced coma, healing.

What he was thinking could be possible but… was it actually what happened?

And why did it matter so much?

He started to knock on her bedroom door, to tell her everything he'd been dreaming about, instead, he walked downstairs and flopped back down onto the couch, trying to make himself go back to sleep. Maybe things were better left alone. After all, there was the possibility that he'd seen a picture of her and now, in his desperation to remember the almost 3 month gap missing from his memories, he was imagining all of this.

It was more logical than the dream he'd had and woken from earlier, easier to swallow.. the dream was just that, a dream. No sense in making himself insane with things that probably were not true to begin with. He'd never met Catherine Barton face to face until now. If he had, he liked to think he wouldn't have forgotten her quite so easily, the mild amnesia that the doctors at the compound insisted he had from the fall he'd taken and the blow to the head it caused or not...

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OMG SO HAPPY. I have 2 reviews already and quite a few favorites and follows! I feel I owe you guys a timeline of some sort.. Since my plot is like.. Paper thin and probably already been guessed by anyone who might be reading the shit show known as my writing so, here we go...

\- Pietro goes to New York where Catherine is a student working at Stark Industries as an office temp, he has the sole purpose of finding out intel on Tony Stark because he'd been planning to get even with Tony somehow for the bomb that killed his and Wanda's parents. He then meets Catherine, who is going through a rough time with her almost fiancee Baron. They're together for 3 weeks before Pietro goes back to Sokovia permanently, and he and Wanda wind up getting suckered into joining Hydra with the promise of revenge on Tony. They're put into isolation, pumped full of the drugs that give them their powers, given brief lessons on how to use said powers and they begin to do missions for Hydra on their own.

\- about two weeks after this, the Sokovian Incident occurs. Pietro is almost killed and spends the next two months in a medically induced coma so he can heal at the Avengers compound while Wanda moves into the farmhouse.

\- A pregnant Catherine returns home.. But is the baby going to be Baron's or Pietro's? And will Baron make an appearance? Stay tuned...

( _The whole timeline of this takes place in roughly four months, closer to 3 and a half.. Hence the name of the story being faster because well, Pietro's fast and so was this whole little love story of theirs before he almost died... I'll be putting more flashbacks into this so you guys get a feel for everything they did together in the 3 weeks, if you like that sort of thing..._ )

Also, if you think the baby should be Pietro's feel free to tell me. I'm still making my mind up on that, haha.


	5. Chapter 4

FOUR

Catherine and Wanda sat in the waiting room of a family clinic, neither girl saying much to the other for a moment, Wanda's mind mostly on what she'd seen floating around in Pietro's mind and one sure way to tell whether her brother was remembering what happened when he left Sokovia for about 3 weeks or whether he'd seen her picture, gotten infatuated with the idea of the girl sitting opposite of her and his mind just kind of rolled with it while her brother had been in coma and was still rolling with it now.

She couldn't just reach out and touch Catherine, well she could but… It would probably be rude and they barely knew each other and she wasn't about to ask to do so, either. Not yet anyway. She'd see what the doctor told Catherine and then she'd go from there.

All she did know was that if Pietro was actually remembering what happened while he'd been in New York then he could very well be a father soon and the baby Catherine carried could be her niece or nephew. And Wanda was torn between happiness, because they'd never had a big family before, and worry, because she wasn't sure how everything would work because she knew enough about what happened in New York to know that Pietro hadn't exactly been completely forthcoming with Catherine if he'd actually met her while he was there for the 3 weeks.

"Barton, Catherine." A nurse called her name, drawing Catherine out of the thoughts she'd had racing through her head at the moment and she stood on shaky legs, making her way to the door. She stopped to look back, to give Wanda a weak smile and a thumbs up and after a deep breath or two, she vanished into the back area of the clinic, her heart pounding louder with each step she took towards the cubicle. The nurse got her inside, got her vitals and then she changed into the flimsy paper gown and positioned herself on the exam table, waiting.

She drifted off during the wait and surprisingly not a surprise, there he was, in her dreams again.. It was the only way she got to see the muscular dark haired male with the dancing blue eyes and the deep and thick accent and she cherished these little lapses into her dreams the most because of it…

x.X.x

flashback

' _No, be serious.. If we were to settle down, get married and try to start a normal family, would you rather have boys or girls?' Catherine asked him, a giggle as he muttered something in his native tongue first and then went quiet, looking at his hands as he remarked, "I want a big family.. Growing up, it was just my sister and I, our parents died.. We were orphaned.. So maybe both." and looked up at her, giving her a smile, leaning in, his hand gripping her breast as he pulled her into his lap and his lips found hers again. The phone rang and rang and it was ignored, Catherine lost in her man and he lost in her as equally. Around midnight, they were lying there, in the bed in her small campus apartment and his arms were wrapped around her tightly and he was kissing the back of her neck and she rolled over to face him and asked, "Come back with me over the holidays."_

 _He hesitated for a minute.. maybe that should have been her first indication that he wasn't as in love with her as she was with him or that he was hiding something but in that moment, she paid it no actual mind. He left an hour later and she fell asleep, a smile on her face, wearing his t shirt._

x.X.x

end flashback

The door to the exam room banged shut and she sat up, trying to wake herself back up as the doctor began to talk to her, began to ask her all sorts of questions. As she took the official test, she wondered what he was doing right now and whether this baby, if she did turn out to be pregnant, was his or her ex fiancee Baron's.

And she wished more than anything that somehow, she could find him again and that this time, things would work out, they could actually be together without him leaving again, all while her more practical common sense insisted that if he really gave a damn, he'd have stayed, they'd be together now maybe..

The exam finished and Catherine went back out into the waiting room with Wanda, sitting down in the chair beside her friend as she said quietly, "Now we wait. They said about an hour and I'll know… I just hope that if I am, the baby is healthy and everything works itself out in my messed up life." as she went quiet, staring at her hands and then her feet for a few seconds. Wanda nodded and then said quietly, "This man.. The one you told me about.. Do you ever think of trying to find him? Because you might possibly have to.."

"Or… I just keep this to myself. If he loved me, he could have stayed.. Or at least told me why he was leaving, not leave in the middle of the night without even a goodbye. I mean he didn't even give me a chance to try to fight for him to stay, Wanda.. It's like… Forget it, it's stupid." Catherine went silent and Wanda spoke up again, "But you could find him."

"Maybe some things are better left not found."

"Maybe there's more to it than you know.. if it were me.." Wanda started, falling silent herself as she focused on trying to remain neutral in the situation because after all, there was no guarantee that her own suspicions on the matter were actually truth or not… And both her brother and Catherine Barton were nothing if not stubborn as the day was long.

"I know.. And I want to find him but I'm also scared to.. Maybe there's a reason he had to leave like he did.."

"There could be."

"I miss him.. The break up with Baron didn't even hurt as much as waking up to find the man I've told you about gone with not even a note or a clue as to whether I'd ever see him again or why he had to go in the first place.." Catherine admitted it wistfully, sighing as she trailed her fingers through her hair and frowned. Wanda was right; she could easily find a way to find the guy, but… If he wanted her he wouldn't have left. Why try to find him when obviously, it was a little fling?

Wanda could sort of sense where Catherine's mind went and her next words were a quiet, "Maybe he had good reasons and it was not just a fling. You will never know."

"I don't want somebody half in and half out of my life. Especially not now, not with this situation." Catherine answered quietly, for a moment, leaning into Wanda and Wanda braced herself for the images as they came, fast and vivid and she had to refrain from the gasp that wanted to leave her lips when her suspicions, at least some of them, were confirmed by what she saw in Catherine's thoughts.

What her brother spoke of wasn't an entirely impossible scenario anymore..

* * *

OMG SO HAPPY. I have 2 reviews already and quite a few favorites and follows! I feel I owe you guys a timeline of some sort.. Since my plot is like.. Paper thin and probably already been guessed by anyone who might be reading the shit show known as my writing so, here we go...

\- Pietro goes to New York where Catherine is a student working at Stark Industries as an office temp, he has the sole purpose of finding out intel on Tony Stark because he'd been planning to get even with Tony somehow for the bomb that killed his and Wanda's parents. He then meets Catherine, who is going through a rough time with her almost fiancee Baron. They're together for 3 weeks before Pietro goes back to Sokovia permanently, and he and Wanda wind up getting suckered into joining Hydra with the promise of revenge on Tony. They're put into isolation, pumped full of the drugs that give them their powers, given brief lessons on how to use said powers and they begin to do missions for Hydra on their own.

\- about two weeks after this, the Sokovian Incident occurs. Pietro is almost killed and spends the next two months in a medically induced coma so he can heal at the Avengers compound while Wanda moves into the farmhouse.

\- A pregnant Catherine returns home.. But is the baby going to be Baron's or Pietro's? And will Baron make an appearance? Stay tuned...

( _The whole timeline of this takes place in roughly four months, closer to 3 and a half.. Hence the name of the story being faster because well, Pietro's fast and so was this whole little love story of theirs before he almost died... I'll be putting more flashbacks into this so you guys get a feel for everything they did together in the 3 weeks, if you like that sort of thing..._ )

Also, if you think the baby should be Pietro's feel free to tell me. I'm still making my mind up on that, haha.


	6. Chapter 5

FIVE

The shock of what she found out earlier during her exam at the clinic still had her sort of unaware and she was lost in thought while trying to do dishes after supper had been eaten when she sort of just sensed someone in the kitchen with her. Everyone else was out in the dining room. Thinking it was her stepmother or her aunt or even Wanda, making sure she was alright because she'd been abnormally silent during the meal, she called out without turning around, "I'm okay, I swear." only to have Pietro answer, "You were quiet."

"I have a lot on my mind right now." Catherine's eyes met his and she frowned a little, the deja vu hitting her again. He stared at her a moment, trying to figure out what to say, Wanda's words weighing heavily on his mind.. The only thing keeping him silent right now was his stubborn insistence that he remember everything on it's own time and then go from there.. He still partially thought that he'd seen a picture of her or something and that his mind made everything up because there was just so much missing from his memories and the little pieces he did have made almost no sense at all which frustrated him to no end.

"Such as?" Pietro questioned, taking the dish she'd just washed and sitting it into a dish rack. From the doorway, Natasha watched the two, her arms folded over her chest as she tried to figure out why it felt like the two of them had met before somehow.

She cleared her throat, the dish in Catherine's hands hit the hardwood kitchen floor and she put her hand to her heart as she said with a faked laugh, "You scared me, mom."

"I see Pietro's helping you with the dishes."

"That's all." Catherine and Pietro both blurted quickly. Natasha gave a nod and turned, walking out of the room, bumping into Clint on her way out. She nodded to the kitchen and then said "Go and look at them and tell me why it feels like they know each other.. I mean they just met but the way they act around each other."

"And he better not get any bright ideas. Baron was bad enough."

"Pietro's not a bad kid."

"But she's our daughter."

Clint used the excuse that he was going to grab another beer to go into the kitchen and he watched the two silently working together to finish the dishes, his own mind going back to a long time ago, when he stood where Pietro was and Natasha stood where Catherine stood.. It was right after Natasha had come to Shield, right after she'd been assigned to Clint for training and mission partnerships… She'd moved in to make training easier and because she had nowhere else to go.

He turned and left the room, told Natasha in the hallway, "It kind of did.. But it's probably just the two of them being around each other so much here. He better not try anything, though."

"She's not a baby anymore, Clint.. But I'm not sure how to feel about it either.."Natasha admitted, the two of them walking out onto the porch of the house, sitting down on the steps, sharing the beer in Clint's hands as they watched the sun sink low in the sky, not talking.. They never had to talk when they were together though.

Inside the farmhouse, Pietro asked again, "What do you have on your mind?"

"Well, I found out who the father of my baby isn't today.. The doctor basically ruled out Baron being the father.. He can't have been, he was one to Belfast when I got pregnant."

Pietro coughed as another thought hit him out of the blue and he fixed his eyes on her, trying to puzzle out what he'd just thought about, this possible memory he'd had from before..

"Are you okay, Piet?"

"I am fine, printsessa. You should let me finish this.. Go up and sleep." Pietro shooed her away with his hand and Catherine eyed him with a raised brow but under his firm gaze she held out the scrubber in her hands and turned, about to leave the room.

"Sometimes when I'm around you, Pietro Maximoff, I feel like you're familiar. You remind me of a guy who meant a lot to me." Catherine admitted before disappearing up the stairs, leaving Pietro standing there in front of the sink, processing things quietly.

If what she told him was true and his memories were real and returning.. Then she knew him a lot better than she seemed to think… He'd looked a little different then, darker hair, not as muscular, brown eyes instead of blue… Hydra made him into the Pietro Maximoff that she saw today, with their serums and experiments…

If everything was true and his memory was coming back, then he was the guy she was talking about just then… And it hit him like a literal brick wall.

She'd gone upstairs and before he realized it, he was following her.. the door to the bathroom closed and he pulled it open, just in time to find her being sick, crouched in front of the toilet in the small and dated bathroom. He made his way over, grabbing her hair and holding it out of the way while looking the opposite way.

' _Even if you are not the baby's father,'_ he thought to himself, ' _someone should be taking care of her right now. And those dreams you keep having, they very well might be memories. Which could very well mean you_ _ **are**_ _this baby's father.'_ as he made up his mind..

Even if **nothing** came of it, he would at least attempt befriending her.

Catherine looked up at him, gave a sheepish shrug and muttered a quiet thank you, taking the rag he let go of her hair to grab and then his hand, letting him pull her into a standing position on her feet. The grip he had on her when he pulled her up caused her to brush his chest and she just sort of lingered dangerously close to him for a minute and stared up into his eyes as the deja vu she continued to feel around him washed over her all over again. "Thanks, Piet." she managed to mumble after a few quiet and awkward seconds.

"You are welcome, printsessa." Pietro replied, his hand resting on her hip for a few seconds as all he could do was stare at her, try to keep the whole thing that he now suspected from pouring out. He couldn't say anything right now.. Because his mind could very well be creating these little random flashbacks on their own and they might not be real but..

They **felt real** to Pietro.

And standing in the small space, her body pressed against him, the slight swell of her stomach pressing into his abdomen, it shocked him to realize.. he sort of **really wanted them to be** the real thing...

But were they?

* * *

Okay, so.. I've had 2 reviews and quite a few favorites and follows and all of you are dear to my heart for continuing to read my cliche and crappy little attempt at bringing Pietro back and giving him fluff; albeit in a weird sort of way. Things are sort of revealed in this chapter, and there was a little bit of Clintasha as well as a fluffy moment or two between Pietro and Catherine.

But... there could possibly be dramatic things around the corner for these two. And angst far off in the future, because he kept things and... we all know what happens when secrets come out, yeah? Anyway, I LOVE YOU ALL FOR REVIEWING, FAVORITING AND FOLLOWING. MORE THAN YOU WILL EVER KNOW.


	7. Chapter 6

SIX

She felt eyes on her again and she looked up from the book in her hands to find the tall and muscular blond male watching her intently, a look of curiosity in his blue eyes as he did so. Catherine went to look back down at the book she was reading but for a second, her gaze lingered in his and again, she could not shake the feeling of nostalgia and of deja vu that overcame her every single time she happened to be around him. She could tell by the tension in the room that he felt it too, even if he never mentioned it.

"What's that look for?" she broke the silence between them by finally asking the question. Pietro's eyes fixed on her again, he'd looked away a second, at the tv set, and he coughed a little, answering quietly, "Nothing."

"Oh." Catherine bit her lower lip, the feeling of disappointment and embarassment at herself for even asking in the first place because why would he be looking at her in a certain way? She shook her head at herself and pulled the throw blanket on the couch around herself and to her shock, she looked over to find him sitting right next to her, looking at his hands, he'd literally used his super speed to move and she hadn't even seen the usual blue silver blur that occurred when he did that.

"Pietro?"

The blanket was wrapped around her tightly and she wondered for a second how he guessed that she liked it wrapped the way he had, but instead of asking, she managed to quietly mumble a thank you and then he grabbed the remote, turning on the television set. The door banged shut and she heard her father in the kitchen, she turned slightly to look back an d see what he was doing, and all Pietro could do was sit there, watch her and think about what he was becoming more and more certain of by the day; that he was remembering her from before the Sokovian Incident and that she may very well be having his baby.

He forced himself to look back at the tv set and Catherine took the remote from his hands, her hands lingering over them as she sort of looked at him a second or two. "You don't mind, right?" she asked, licking her lips as he shook his head. "No."

"Good because Scream is on and I love that show."

The room fell silent again and while she was caught up in watching Scream, Pietro watched her, quietly, trying to figure out whether he needed to address this tension between them or the fact that he felt like he knew her from before. The words weren't coming as usual.

Clint cleared his throat, shooting Pietro a look and Pietro scooted over a little. Clint spoke up from the doorway, "How'd it go enrolling today, Cat?"

"It went. I wound up having to sign up for more courses than I thought I would. But I'm back in college and I'll be in their nursing program by next fall."

"Just don't work yourself too hard, kiddo." Clint ruffled his daughter's hair and then said quietly, "It's getting kinda late." as he gave Pietro a look and then asked, "Is Wanda coming back out here tonight or is she staying at the compound with Vision?"

"I think she is staying there tonight." Pietro answered, looking up at Clint but not moving an inch closer to or away from Catherine. If what he suspected were true, things were going to be complicated enough when they did finally come out and he might as well stand his ground now.. Not that he was trying to alienate the man or anything, he wasn't, but he was going to prove that he was not like this Baron guy she'd talked about a lot recently had been… To her father and stepmother and to Catherine herself.

Clint eyed Pietro but after grumbling he told them both, "Don't stay up all night watching tv. Some of us have training starting tomorrow." as he gave a pointed look to Pietro who nodded. As Clint left the room, Catherine turned to Pietro and asked quietly, "So you're going to join the team too?"

"Yes, my sister and I."

"Be careful. It's dangerous work." Catherine puzzled over the moment of fear and panic she felt at his answer, but she pushed it to the bottom of her mind and tried to go back to her book again. When she looked up, their eyes met again and he looked like he wanted to say something.

"What?"

"Just thinking about how stupid this Baron person was." Pietro blurted, watching her eyes and then her lips as he spoke. She raised a brow and then asked, "Why?"

"Because he just walk out."

"Trust me, I'm not that great. And he's not the first one.. There's the other guy, my baby's actual father, remember me telling you about him? If I were so great, one or the other would've stuck around.. Hell, my mom wouldn't have run out either. Or gotten killed when she was about to leave my dad and I."

"Why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Blame yourself for other people and their obvious stupidity." Pietro asked, holding her gaze as he waited on an answer.

"Because it just seems to fit."

"It is stupid." Pietro muttered, shaking his head as he found himself moving closer, tilting her chin up so that she had to put down her book and look at him. Catherine raised a brow again and then said quietly, "It's not if I actually feel like it's true, okay?"

"It is not true.. At least not in one case.. Maybe this other guy, maybe he had no choice.. Maybe he would have much rather been with you than where he went." Pietro muttered, his eyes locked on hers. Catherine raised a brow but she found herself leaning in, hesitantly.

"Yeah, well, I could argue that he could have stayed, that there's always a choice but.. We weren't officially a thing to begin with, and I have no right to be upset about it.. It's what whirlwind relationships are.. They're great, they make you feel alive, make you crave this one person on this whole other level, maybe even make you fall in love and then they're gone."

She went to get off the couch because the show had just ended but Pietro grabbed her wrist carefully and then stood, asked quietly, "Do you want to go for a walk around outside?"

"It's late? And dark?"

" I want to look at the stars." he muttered, taking her, leading her out the back door of the farmhouse. They walked around the yard quietly, Pietro telling her quietly, "There is something.. I feel like we've met before.. The doctors tell me my memory will return and lately, it has.."

"That's great."

"I keep remembering things about you.. And me.. But I can't have met you until now.. I mean I don't think I could have." Pietro blurted it out, stopping their walk to look at her, gauge the expression on her face.

Catherine considered what he said and then answered quietly, "You feel familiar to me.. I've said it before and I keep telling myself that there's no way it's possible but.. You remind me so much of the guy I think might be my baby's father, I just… And I had this dream one night.." as she stopped herself from saying too much.

She felt the ripple across her abdomen and out of reflex, she grabbed his hand, putting it against her rounded tummy, looking up at him for a few quiet seconds. "They're active tonight.. I swear it feels like he or she is running a marathon in there tonight.."

She kept quiet on the part that the baby seemed to get more active when she was around him lately, because that would just be strange to tell someone and between the two of them, especially after everything that had just been said, things didn't need to be stranger at the moment..

* * *

Okay, so.. I've had 2 reviews and quite a few favorites and follows and all of you are dear to my heart for continuing to read my cliche and crappy little attempt at bringing Pietro back and giving him fluff; albeit in a weird sort of way. Things are sort of revealed in this chapter, and there was a little bit of Clintasha as well as a fluffy moment or two between Pietro and Catherine.

But... there could possibly be dramatic things around the corner for these two. And angst far off in the future, because he kept things and... we all know what happens when secrets come out, yeah? Anyway, I LOVE YOU ALL FOR REVIEWING, FAVORITING AND FOLLOWING. MORE THAN YOU WILL EVER KNOW.


	8. Chapter 7

SEVEN

"We need to talk, Dad". The words were enough to make Clint Barton look up from the lumber he'd been cutting for yet another addition to the house and study his daughter's face as she stood in the doorway of the farmhouse.

Catherine felt her stomach churning because she had a feeling that getting it out - _even if it were the right thing to do at the moment_ , was probably going to get her one hell of a lecture and more disappointed looks from her father and stepmother. She sat down on the steps and took a long sip of tea from the glass in her shaking hands as she said quietly, "Baron isn't the father of my baby."

"What do you mean Baron isn't the father?" Clint asked, taking a few deep breaths, looking intently at his daughter who currently was looking everywhere else but at him, it was something she'd always done when she knew she was probably about to get into trouble for something. He stopped what he was doing and sat down on the steps beside her, asked quietly, "What happened? I mean you've always been a good kid, Cat.. You had your wild hairs, but you go off to college and you come back pregnant, with your scholarship revoked.."

Catherine sighed and then said quietly, "Baron isn't the father because I got pregnant while we were broken up and he was in Ireland. I know who the father is but.. Good luck finding the guy. He left town." as she looked up at the clouds lingering overhead and then sighed, taking a few deep breaths, hugging her knees as she made herself look at her father and then answered his question quietly with, "I connected with this guy, okay? It felt like you said it felt when you realized that you were in love with Mom.. I mean Natasha. I realized that Baron wasn't the guy I really loved.."

Clint took the tea glass and took a sip as he wiped sweat from his forehead and fixed his gaze on his daughter as he said quietly, "Have you even tried to look for the guy?"

"He lived in Sokovia or Romania, it was close to where the Maximoffs are from. He gave me a fake name, because all the digging I did produced nothing, nada." Catherine admitted, shaking her head at herself, telling her father this now, she suddenly realized just how juvenile she sounded.. And she honestly expected to be a good mother? She couldn't even give the real name of her child's father for Christ sake.

Something about her words made Clint think a few seconds, they now knew that the Maximoff twins had been sent to New York on separate missions before getting injected with the serums that gave them their powers, but.. He quickly ruled that out because surely her answer wasn't that simple.. It made no sense..

"Well, let me talk to Fury and I'll see if I can.." he started, Catherine shaking her head no vigourously as she told her father, "If he wanted to stay, Daddy, he'd have stayed. He didn't. I'm fine, I've got you and Mom and aunt L, I can handle raising my son or daughter alone and I intend to.. I'm just.. I can't trust myself not to fuck things up, you know? So I'm taking myself off the market."

"So.. How far along are you really?" Clint asked, managing his best calm smile as he held his daughter's gaze and added, "Have you told Nat about this?"

"I'm going to as soon as she's back from the compound." Catherine answered, sipping the tea she held in her hands again. Clint nodded and said quietly, "It'd be best if you did."

"I know, I really made a mess of my life."

"Not necessarily, Cat, I mean you did, but.. You were trying to follow your heart. Like Nat and I always told you too.. Mistakes happen, but.. Sometimes it all works out the way it's supposed to, kid.. Like your mother trying to leave.." Clint paused and took another sip of tea before adding, "I know things were tough after she got killed, Cat, but at least we had each other.. And then Nat when she found us. And I never tell you enough, your mother wasn't leaving that day because of you, or even me.. She was leaving that day because I told her to go.. One of the agency's enemies found our old house, kiddo.. She was coming back to get you that night.. We were going to move to a safe house and I was going to come to you two in a few months when I tracked the guy down.. We just.. We had no idea that he was as close as he was to finding us."

Catherine sat there; she took in her father's admission and sighed quietly as she told him, "I miss her.. And I used to blame myself.. And sometimes, I blamed you being gone so much for it because she was always so sad when you went away for work."

"she wasn't sad, kiddo.. She was worried. And I don't blame her, honestly… But no, she wasn't going to leave because of either of us that night, she was going ahead and getting to the safehouse and then coming back in a different vehicle to get you a few hours later." Clint answered, his arm going a round his daughter's shoulders as he pulled her closer to him. "But seriously.. If you want to find him.."

"Dad, no.. Some things are probably better left alone." Catherine said the words quietly, looking up as her stepmother's black Corvette turned into their driveway and pulled to a stop in front of the house. Natasha walked over, looking from Clint to Catherine and asked, "Everything okay, you two?"

Clint stood and muttered something about getting back to work on the addition he was making to the house and hurried off to the barn to get back to it, leaving Catherine to talk to Natasha alone. Catherine patted the step and then said quietly, "I was telling dad that Baron can't be the father of my baby.. He was gone to Ireland and we'd broken up.."

"I sort of thought so.. You looked further alone than a few weeks. I started to ask you so many times, but since you came back you've looked like you were really hurting about something, little spider… So who is this guy and where can I find him to drag his ass back here to do what he should be doing?"

Catherine shook her head and said quietly, "He's from Sokovia or Romanian.. He came to New York for work or something, at least that's what he told me when we met.. I loved him but… I guess he didn't feel the same because I woke up one morning and he was just.. Gone. I tried to find him on my own, actually.. The name he gave me doesn't exist, so good luck trying to find him. I don't know I'd want to anyway."

"Maybe he had reasons.. I can't believe I'm sitting here advocating for a guy who got you pregnant and left.. Maybe you got the name wrong.. I still think you should find him." Natasha told her stepdaughter quietly, taking a sip of the drink she'd bought on her way home. "I mean, maybe you're wrong. I doubt it, because he left like you told us he did, but maybe.."

"Mom, we both know I'm not wrong.."

"Sometimes, hope is not a bad thing. C'mon.. We'll go inside and make cookies or something, find that tv show you wanted me to watch with you on tv and just do nothing a few hours. You've been burning it at both ends this week, you need a break.. So do I, truth be told." Natasha pulled her stepdaughter up off the steps and they walked into the farmhouse.

Catherine felt lighter; she'd gotten her secret out.. But parts of her were wondering… what if her parents made a good point?

And what if there was more to the déjà vu she felt around Pietro than she put it up to being? What if she actually did know him?

He did look eerily similar to the guy, Cristian… And he had been in Hydra, it wasn't like Hydra was going to go around letting their agents use their actual names to do things, right?

But why then couldn't he remember anything they'd shared together? The thought stung a little, but the practical side of the brunette kicked in, reminding her that the brain does really strange things sometimes…

* * *

WOW.. I woke up to 3 reviews, thanks so much for the encouragement guys! Also, I now have 11 favorites and 14 followers and honestly, I'm just in awe of how many people actually like what I feel is a mediocre attempt at a fanfiction AU life for Pietro Maximoff. SO THANK YOU SO MUCH LOVELIES! I hope you continue to enjoy the story, even through the eventual angst I have planned for it in the future.

Also, to the reviewer that said they wanted Pietro to be the baby's father. I'm going to take that direction with this, I think, because I too think he'd make an amazing dad.. Plus, I saw this gif set that was like an AU ending for him and it honestly inspired me to make Pietro the baby's child..

Boy or girl though? I'm torn between either or having a set of boy / girl twins since the genes for that are present in at least one parent.

This chapter was more or less moments between Natasha and Catherine and Clint and Catherine, with a little bit more background into where Catherine's mother actually went to and what happened there. It's not really told in full but it's hopefully enough to give you guys a glimpse as to what happened to her mother and how Clint and Natasha wound up together now... I'll put in more of their past here and there, I promise.. And more fluff between Clintasha and Pietro x OC, also some future fluff between Wanda and either Vision or Bucky, I'm actually torn between which pairing I like better for Wanda atm.


	9. Chapter 8

EIGHT

Catherine sat straight up in bed as the storm outside her window picked up in intensity. Her father and Natasha were gone on a mission, Wanda going with them. This left her alone in the farmhouse with Pietro Maximoff and to say it was tense… That'd be a definite understatement.

Every time they were in a room together, the air felt like it got sucked right out and Catherine felt as if she couldn't breathe.. If she weren't gazing at him when he was totally unaware, then she'd look up to find him doing the same to her… There was that ever present feeling of déjà vu and that she knew him somehow, even when she knew there was no way possible for that to be true.

He just reminded her so much of Cristian, the foreign male she'd had a fling with while broken up with Baron. The father of her child… The guy she wished more than anything she could find again and the reason she sometimes cried herself to sleep at night because she couldn't find him.

The storm waking her up meant she'd probably not fall right back to sleep, and grumbling, she made her way quietly downstairs and into the kitchen, only to find Pietro standing there, shirtless and bathed by the low lighting of the open refridgerator. She cleared her throat and he shot up like he'd been launched by a canon. "Anything in there?" she asked, a slightly amused and soft smile on her lips as his blue eyes settled on her.

"You should be sleeping."

"You should too. I'm fine, just… Never handled storms well at all." Catherine admitted the information quietly, wincing as she thought about exactly why storms always made her feel ill at ease and how Cristian, for a while there, seemed to know how to comfort her during a long and stormy night… The steady thump of his heart had been more than enough to lull her to sleep those few times.. She missed it now, more than she missed anything except for the mother she could barely remember now.

As she said the words, Pietro got this flash of a memory, he was holding her semi nude form against him.. Her head was resting on his chest, his hands wound slowly and absentmindedly through her hair as their legs were tangled in each others and in the sheets on the bed they barely fit onto. He dropped the key lime yogurt in his hands onto the pale gray hardwood flooring as a result of the image in his mind and after a few deep breaths, he was able to answer what she asked when she asked him if he were okay.

His blue eyes fixed on her eyes, almost an inky blue color as he started to walk towards her quietly, stopping when he stood in front of her. "It happen again." he muttered, holding her gaze after his eyes had slowly roamed over her and he'd shifted them so that they were standing close to each other, his hand resting casually at her hip. Catherine bit into her lower lip as she nodded and asked, "The memories?"

"Yes." Pietro answered, taking a deep breath as he added quickly, "You were… You were in those one too, printsessa."

"But you still think we didn't know each other before." Catherine asked, looking up at him. He nodded and then said quietly, "According to my memories and how I feel when I am around you, I want to say that somehow, we knew each other before.. But it could not be logical.."

"Had you ever been to America before?"

"According to my files at the compound, yes.. Where were you going to college?" Pietro asked. Her answer made him cough and he studied her a moment, quietly.. He very well could be remembering as opposed to making up the memories he'd been having return to him…

Because her college was located in the same New York town Hydra sent him to on a covert operation before he began taking the serum …

"What's wrong, Piet?"

"I have been there before.." Pietro sat down on the stool at the island in the kitchen, things were rushing back to him, at literally the speed of light. Catherine stood there, processing his words as she sank down onto her stool herself. "What do you mean, Pietro?" she asked, her voice quiet, her heart beating like a runaway train as Pietro looked up at last and then asked her quietly, "This man… His name was Cristian, yes?"

Catherine gulped and nodded.

Pietro muttered something she couldn't make out and then he stood, pacing. And Catherine asked finally, "Pietro, what's going on?"

"Cristian, printsessa.. That was the name that Hydra gave me when they sent me in." Pietro hated admitting the words, because once they were out, she'd hate him forever… Or she'd think he'd merely used her to get close to her family and their co workers then. Quickly, he added, "I wasn't supposed to meet you. I was there for a mission, to gather intel and report back to Hydra… But I saw you leaving the dance studio that day, printsessa and…. Have you ever just felt drawn to another person?"

"Wait, what do you mean?" Catherine gaped at Pietro, biting her lower lip, and her stomach churning viciously.. Was he trying to tell her that he was Cristian? And had he used her? She eyed him intently, biting her lower lip as she tried to keep calm, to hear him out…

"I did… When you walked up to me in the diner.. And you gave me that red rose." Catherine answered quietly, adding almost as quickly, "Now I don't know what to think…."

"I wasn't using you. I know how it seems…"

"How am I supposed to believe that? I mean you disappeared, Pietro… You never even gave me your real name to begin with? How do I know Hydra didn't send you to find a weak link so you could gather intel quickly?" Catherine wiped at her eyes, Pietro moved to stand closer, to try and calm her down, she moved away from his grasp quickly. "Don't… Don't touch me right now. I need to think…" Catherine stood and quickly, she disappeared from the room, going up to her own bedroom, slamming the door shut behind her just as the tears began to flow freely.

Pietro stood at the bottom of the stairs, his hand in his hair. "That went as well as I feared that it would." he grumbled dryly, grabbing his phone to go and text his sister Wanda.. She usually gave him better advice and he trusted her more than he trusted anyone else.

"What do you mean, she knows the truth now, brother?" Wanda asked sleepily as Pietro explained how everything came back to him at once and naturally, he felt obligated to tell Catherine and that when he had, he'd upset her and now he didn't know what to do.

"I will be home tomorrow, brother.. We will figure out how to fix this situation then, I promise." Wanda sighed as she asked quietly, "So the baby.. It is yours then?"

"It is." Pietro admitted as he paced the farmhouse kitchen, swinging at the double doors of the refridgerator when he stopped for a moment.

Upstairs, Catherine sat on her bed in shock as everything came flooding back to her all at once and she started to cry, sobbing… what if he'd never meant a single thing he told her? What if he'd used her to try and get information for Hydra?

"And the worst part in all this? I still love him… I still want to go downstairs and fix things between us… Even after he lied to me and just vanished… Even when I find out that he could possibly have not meant a single thing he said or did to me then… I still can't stop myself from feeling drawn to him.." Catherine mumbled to herself as she lay back, took deep breaths to get herself calm again.

She probably should have called her parents, told them what she knew now, but for whatever reason that night, she didn't… Instead, she just lie there, crying quietly while she tried to make sense of everything and how messed up it was by this point..

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WOW.. I woke up to 5 reviews and I am so thrilled! Okay, so this chapter marks the beginning of their whole 'secret' coming out to each other.. Sorry, I was in an angst mood today, so this came out angsty. Hopefully, it makes sense and feel / reads realistically, I'm working my ass off to at least attempt realism.. I apologize again for the angst here and there, but.. the story is complicated..

Boy or girl baby or one of each? I can't decide myself, tbh.

Also, I put a timeline in the footnotes of the previous chapters if anyone is confused by this point.

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE SUPPORT AND KIND WORDS! I LOVE YOU ALL.


	10. Chapter 9

NINE

Catherine was not sure how to handle it; knowing what she now knew. When Pietro was using the alias he used, he'd said things… She struggled with the thought now that maybe he hadn't meant the things he said to her. And it hurt like hell because while she might have been deluding herself about her feelings to Baron when she finally managed to say she loved him, well… She hadn't been lying to herself or to Pietro when she said anything she'd said to him.

She really loved him and the thought now that everything he said, all the times he told her he loved her might have been a lie was a painful thought for her. And to keep the tension down, she'd been managing quite well to avoid him for the better part of almost a week and a half… But she'd known when she started avoiding him that it wouldn't last forever, that sooner or later, they were going to wind up in a situation where they were stuck together.

She just hadn't been expecting it to be tonight…

The doors to the farmhouse banged shut and she heard the heavy footfalls of the boots he'd borrowed from her father to 'work' around the farm while he was doing nothing and only being allowed scant amounts of training.. They hit the floor, echoing through the house. She'd just been about to stand, to hurry up to her room and finish writing the thesis paper she was writing up there, but before she could, Pietro stopped her.

"Don't.."

"You have been avoiding me."

"Because I don't know what to say to you now, okay? But if you're worried that I'll hold you to anything you said as your alias, Pietro Maximoff, don't worry because I won't." Catherine said as she looked at Pietro.

The pain in her eyes was enough to kill him. But he remembered his talk with Wanda about the situation and he knew that his sister was right.. Due to the way things happened, the way they met, Catherine was going to doubt him and she was going to be hurt. He had to let her feel those things.

And he was trying to, but it was hard knowing that when he said all that stuff to her when they'd met while he was doing a covert mission… That he meant them and he still felt them now, stronger than ever.

There wasn't a way to make Catherine see it unless she did on her own, unless he kept trying to prove it. Which would be so much easier, the blond Sokovian male thought to himself sourly, if she'd stop avoiding him and let him prove that he meant everything… So far, she'd managed to avoid him like an expert.

He saw her wincing and heard her gasp and his stomach churned as his heart felt like it would beat right through his chest. Catherine bit her lower lip and then turned to walk away after just staring at him for a second or two, but Pietro grabbed her wrist quickly. "Just then.. Were you in real pain?" he asked as he gave a very concerned look, picking her up, grabbing the keys to one of Clint's ancient old 'farm trucks' and carrying her out of the house before she could even really answer properly.

"I'm pretty sure it was nothing… Just a kick that hurt a little extra, or my insides stretching so the baby has room." Catherine tried to insist, but it was of no use. Pietro had already put her into the passenger side of the truck and he was going around to the driver side, getting in, putting the key into the ignition and starting the truck.

"Can you even drive in America?"

"Actually, yes." Pietro peeled out of the driveway, a cloud of dust behind him as he started to rush towards town. If there was something wrong with their baby because of the injections he'd been given by Hydra, he thought to himself as he drove down the road, he'd hate himself about it forever.. It hit him then, like a literal brick wall, that he wanted this… With her. He wanted to be with her, to raise their baby together, to live on a farm like her father's…

To have Wanda living with them… To be an actual family.

He loved Catherine more than he thought he loved her and now, the thought that something could be very wrong had him in a bit of an internal panic and that was probably why he over reacted and took her into town, to the nearest emergency room.

And why he threatened to punch one of the doctors when the doctor listened to her and told him that it wasn't necessary to let him go back with her, despite him telling him that he was the father and he wanted and needed to know what was going on. He sat in the waiting room, looking at his hands, then the doors, then the clock on the wall.

For someone used to moving at the speed of light, this agonizingly slow and long wait was driving him crazy and finally, about an hour later, the doors opened and Catherine walked out. She looked like she was a little scared, but he didn't blame her for feeling that way, honestly. He rushed to her, scooping her up into his arms as he asked quietly, "Well? What happened?"

"It was just stress and the baby stretching my insides to make more room to kick." Catherine answered him quietly and then she added, "You can put me down."

"I'm not going to."

"Damn it, Pietro, you don't have to do this. I'm fine, the baby is fine.. You don't have to…" Catherine mumbled, and then she was put down, but she was pinned backfirst against a wall by Pietro once they'd gotten to a quieter corridor in the hospital and then his lips were on hers, at first, tentatively, at first she was fighting against the kiss, but his hand rested on her cheek, his thumb trailing over it and he pulled her lips deeper into his lips and the shove against his chest with her hand became her gripping the fabric of the gray t shirt he wore in her fist as her tongue slipped past her lips and met his, battling for control of the kiss.

She couldn't breathe, everything about the way he'd kissed her before and the way he was kissing her right now came rushing back to her and as much as she tried to make herself stop, to make herself walk away, she couldn't. The kiss broke and Pietro worked at catching his breath, calming himself down as he just stared at her with this wild, tender and lustful look in lust darkened blue eyes. She bit her lip as she tried to calm herself down and finally, Pietro said quietly, "I may have lied about my name when we met, printsessa… But I didn't lie about anything I felt for you.. And I'm not lying now when I say that I want to be with you.. I want to be a father to my child. I want us to be a family."

Catherine mulled over what he said.. She could tell that he meant it, but she was still afraid to just let go completely. She finally managed to answer quietly, "You can't rush me… Okay? Because we rushed the first time and look at how that went… You have to let me work through the way you leaving then felt.. And you have to let me decide that I can trust you not to just disappear like that again."

"I know that I won't."

"And I know that you say that, but I also know that I woke up one morning and you were gone, you'd pretty much vanished without a trace. Do you want this to work?" Catherine asked quietly, cautiously moving closer to him, letting him put his arms around her as she leaned against him and looked up. He nodded. He did want things to work between them.. He did love her and he knew that he didn't want to be with anybody else.. He'd been with others before her but… he'd felt it then, when he'd seen her.. He'd felt it again when he saw her again, after waking up from his coma.. There was just something different about the way he felt about her than the way he'd felt about any of the others he'd been with before.

"Yes. More than anything." he answered quietly, pulling her closer to him.

"Then I need time.. I need to work through all this, okay? So we're going to have to take things really, really slow." Catherine mumbled against his lips as he pulled her lips against his again for another kiss. "Okay.. I try this whole 'slow thing'." Pietro pretended to grumble as he picked her up again, carrying her out of the ER and back to the truck they'd gotten to the hospital in.

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WOW.. I woke up to 6 reviews and I am so thrilled! Okay, so this chapter was me also being an angst queen again, sorry if I scared anyone.. But I felt like they needed that one breakthrough moment.. Plus, I wanted to write out a kind of hot kiss thing.. They're starting to pull back together, slowly. If you like slow burn type stuff, that's what this story will.. and there's going to be mostly fluff and sexy stuff, or cute things they do together as opposed to a lot of action.. There will be action though... and a few tantrums when the parentals discover just who fathered their grandchild, because yes... we know Nat and clint would totally go overprotective mode.

Boy or girl baby or one of each? I can't decide myself, tbh.

Also, I put a timeline in the footnotes of the previous chapters if anyone is confused by this point.

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE SUPPORT AND KIND WORDS! I LOVE YOU ALL.


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